Troublemakers Unlisted

Two days before the June 3 election, MaryRose Consiglio and Tom Sherman emailed a group of candidates running for membership on the San Diego County Republican Party’s Central Committee. “We are sure you have noticed,” wrote the married couple, “the many and various slate mailers that…[list] candidates — and you were not included.” Consiglio’s and Sherman’s names were not on the slate mailers either, despite their being incumbents on the Central Committee. On Election Day, the pair lost their seats, although they will finish their current terms, which end in December.

In the latest election cycle, five incumbent Republican Central Committee members were defeated after not being listed on the slate mailers sent out in their state assembly districts. “The people who got thrown off were not the deadwood,” says Laura Sumrall, who was reelected to the committee from the 66th District. “They were the activists who were doing things, the people with clout, and I’m guessing that the committee chairman was threatened by that.” Sumrall says her name appeared on some of the slate mailers in her district, but not all.

Many Republicans and Democrats don’t know that they can vote for some of their party’s Central Committee members, or even that Central Committees run the Republican and Democratic parties locally. The committees perform a variety of functions, which include recruiting candidates, raising money, helping shape the party platform, registering voters, and supporting rallies for the party’s candidates.

Membership on the San Diego County Republican Central Committee is divided into two groups. Ex officio members are appointed by Republican congressional, state assembly, and state senate officeholders or past candidates for the offices. The committee has 17 ex officio members. A second group of members is elected in the general election by registered party members. There are six of them from each of San Diego County’s eight state assembly districts. At the start of every two-year term, the committee reconsiders its bylaws and selects an executive board, including the party chairman.

Tony Krvaric is the current chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party. In spring 2007, he succeeded Ron Nehring, who became the California Republican Party chairman. The party’s San Diego website says the following: “Born and raised in Sweden, Tony Krvaric was inspired by President Ronald Reagan to come to America.…

“After becoming a naturalized citizen in June of 2003, he decided to become politically involved. Having seen, first hand, the devastating effects of socialism in Sweden and the rest of Europe, he was determined to stand up for the traditional, conservative values that helped make America great.”

In April, however, the online newspaper Raw Story claimed that Krvaric cofounded Fairlight, “a band of software crackers which later evolved into an international video and software piracy group.” After that story appeared, Krvaric circulated an email explanation among Republican leaders. According to Raw Story, the explanation stated, “Apparently there is a hit piece floating around on me, ‘exposing’ my wild high school teenage years.”

Sources I spoke with on the San Diego County Republican Party’s Central Committee said they like Krvaric but that he has difficulty tolerating dissent. They suspect the chairman is responsible for placing the lists of Central Committee candidates onto the slate mailers that went out before last month’s election. For each of the eight state assembly districts, there were nine or more candidates. But the mailers printed six names, or complete district slates. It’s easy to see how the three or more left off the list in each case feel targeted.

Krvaric did not reply to my phone message asking if he were behind the Central Committee lists on the slate mailers. Members of the committee’s executive board haven’t confessed to anything either, according to Laura Sumrall, who thinks her close association with Steve Francis made them “a little cautious” of targeting her completely. (She opposed the committee on its endorsement of Jerry Sanders over Francis for mayor of San Diego.) “But the discussion of the Central Committee lists happened in a silent meeting the executive board members will all deny,” Sumrall tells me. “We have a mole who was sitting in the meeting outraged but kept his mouth shut and told us about it later. And a couple of them have slipped and said, ‘But, you know, you can’t have people on the committee who cause trouble and aren’t willing to work together.’ ”

Sumrall does not blame the targeting on ideological factions. “But I believe in free dialogue,” she says. “And Central Committee members should not be selecting each other.”

Camille Cowlishaw agrees, saying the targeting has resulted from a pure power play rather than factional purging. Cowlishaw is another incumbent Central Committee member who was not on the slate in her district. The slate prevailed on June 3.

“There are a few people,” according to Cowlishaw, “who would like to control everything, including Tony Krvaric. They want to have no dissent, no confusion about what they want done. They want everybody to get along and have the same idea and be on the same page. I can understand that to a certain degree, but there has to be some discussion. I am vocal in my opinions, though mostly outside of meetings. But I don’t think my views were anti anything.”

When I asked Cowlishaw how long she’s been a committee member, she was unsure. She volunteered at Republican headquarters before being elected for the first time. “I went there for many years without belonging to the committee,” she says. “I guess I’ve been on it now at least six years.

“I was terribly disappointed when my name was not on the list this time, because I felt I have worked really hard for the party,” says Cowlishaw. “I’ve been involved in politics long enough to know that this kind of thing happens, but my biggest disappointment was when I kept getting different mailers [she received six] and they were all the same. And I thought the senders must have talked to somebody in the office who planted those names. It’s not good if committee members are not elected by the people but are selected by their representatives instead. Since many people don’t know what the Central Committee is but know they have to vote, they use the slates. They’re not going to look everybody up; they’re just going to take the easy road.”

The republican party needs to realize that the leaders of this country have given them a bad name and to stay in good faith with us voters, they have swayed all the way to the Democratic party. It is now a bad thing to be associated with the Republican Party and they should realize that the only way that the public's perception will change... Is for them to change. We live in a time where adaption in necessary for survival and when you continue to use old thinking .. You will get old results. I hope all of you have a good day.

they funded these slates in an attempt to bribe their way again. krvaric holds hands to these folks and many more like them. and funny how he gave them an award right after having funded this. way to go bribe boy!

believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg. expect this stuff to start haunting ron nehring. he hand choose this guy and travels with him quite frequently. another words, he sure as heck knows what's going on with all these issues.

This should be of no surprise to anyone. My hat is off to the writer of this article. In fact candidate David Tos runner for District 7 had been expressing his concearns about April Boling and the Republican Party. He was told by Tony Kervaric that he (Tos) should not run, because they the party, would not back him that April was owed the position because she was their accountant. Folks this should raise many red flags. Tos in fact wrote a letter to the President and the RNC in Washington, D.C regarding concearns about the party in San Diego. There seems to be some real questionable actions with April and the crew here. How can a candidate also be in charge of $ that is placing her name on ballots. Then the other question is she (April is the accountant for all the P.A.C) for the other rep. candidates. It was stated this is legal, maybe, unethical you bet. I want to see an audit done on those RP books. Why is Tony and Ron flying to Dubai together? Hmm Grover and the other two above have been in Sweeden together. We then must question who has been buying up all the slate mail slots so no one can get on them. I will bet dollars to donuts April and all of them are going to be uncovered here real soon. The public is so swayed all the time, it scares me. That is why this crew feels untouchable.The builders run this city and April and the rest of them are all in it together.

I've heard rumors of a campaign disclosure document that shows, right next to each other:

payment to April Boling the treasurer of the campaign account

payment to April Boling the candidate for City Council.

Would the checks would have her signature on both front and back?

It would make a nice visual.

Dorian, do you know anything about this?

Also, Dorian, could you maybe provide us a list of all the campaigns where Boling is currently serving as treasurer?

As to Krvaric, I saw him huddling and noodling with McSweeney election night. They make a cute couple.

Tony is a Croat/Swede/Right-Wing-True-Christian-American(TM). He's not the first hyphenated Republican in California, is he? What about that other guy who was an illegal immigrant? Is it true that Ahrnold refuses to have anything to do with the neanderthals running the Republican party into the ground in this state?

Serves 'em right.

Thank you for writing this great article. I bet there's plenty more to come.

This under-handed plot astonishes me. It’s amazing that anyone would even plan something like this. One of my relatives is among the group of incumbents that was not included on the mailers. I happened to be visiting when the first fake-official mailer arrived. It had obviously been created in an attempt to deceive. It looked identical to the type of mailer normally received from official sources prior to an election. It also contained a nonsensical disclaimer statement that most would require a magnifying glass to read along with an official-sounding source name (California Voter Guide). Unbelievable. In addition, it made false claims regarding those listed having paid a sum of money to be included. I felt so badly for my relative. This person has been an enthusiastic worker for a number of years and, to be stabbed in the back in this manner is a sad turn of events. Of course, the average citizen would assume this information was from an official source. I would certainly have thought so. The six people listed on the fake-official mailer were those elected in my relative’s precinct, which, of course, will result in the loss of a talented and faithful representative. It amazes me that people even have the time to plot in this manner. More, I am sad that people we should be able to trust to do the right thing worked in an underhanded manner to cut the pool only to those who will go-along-to-get-along.

One of the things that people keep missing about this is that these slates, or voter guides, if you will, are mailed to registered voters implying that they are endorsed by not only the local GOP but by other organizations. Most are simply PAC's. Political Action Committees designed to launder money and promote causes under the slate law loopholes. One of the slates/voter guides, claimed to be by a republican women's group. It was not. It was a women who is a consultant who formed a PAC in order to make money, and yes, she's a registered republican. good for her, except that this is designed to deceive the public.

it is advertising, just like any commercial one sees on television, or in newspapers/magazines. And yes, in those they clearly have to post: paid advertising. Which is what these PAC's should have to do.

another fallicy is that on some, they claimed to be associated with the CRP. The CRP is NOT allowed to endorse these candidates. Another said they were associated with CRA, well actual endorsed CRA candidates were not on the slates. again, deceit. But does the public know this? of course not.

the chairman and his henchmen (executive board) also intimidated people into not running, and also told others they had to run. lies were spread by him in an effort to influence an election. I hardly think this can be construed as democracy, or honesty, or ethical.

the circle jerk or ron nehring, tony kervaric and coronado communications ought to be stopped. if only people knew how duane dichira and jennifer jacobs of coronado communications are destroying the democracy of san diego... they should be investigated by the fec and charged for breaking laws.